Chapter 12: Stand Your Ground, Hold the Line

The rebels began concentrating their fire on Gray—heavy lumber guns, laser rifles, ballistic weapons—anything and everything they could muster. Yet, none of their weapons could land a hit. The ballistic rounds were intercepted, and energy weapons were deflected off the power armor's energy coating.

"For the Emperor!" Qin Mo raised his scepter and chainsword, charging towards the nearby mutants.

"Fight! For the Emperor!" shouted an officer of the planetary defense force, leaping from the trench and rallying his troops.

The skirmish, momentarily paused by Qin Mo's sudden arrival, now resumed with renewed intensity.

The battlefield was a maelstrom of chaos, an environment that greatly favored Qin Mo, Gray, and anyone wearing the powered armor. There was no need for tactical finesse—just steady advancement under the protection of gravity shields, unleashing the multi-barreled energy guns integrated into their arms in wild, indiscriminate sweeps.

Even when rebel soldiers charged with bombs or bayonets, they were no match—the gravity shields stopped them in their tracks. Not even the deadliest energy weapons could penetrate the powered armor, for each joint was fortified with shield generators designed specifically to counter laser weapons, easily creating a protective layer to deflect their strikes.

The powered armor had but one weakness: its exorbitant energy consumption. In combat mode, with all systems fully activated, it could sustain only an hour of battle. Yet, the rebels were unaware of this limitation, and even if they knew, it wouldn't have mattered. Few could survive an hour under such withering fire.

"Shut down the energy coating! Divert all power to the weapons system! Full firepower!" Gray hurried to Qin Mo's side, covering him as they advanced, issuing commands to the powered armor.

Once the HUD indicated that the energy coating had been deactivated, the weapon systems received an overwhelming boost of power. In the suits designed by Qin Mo, energy could be freely reallocated—focusing it entirely on the gravity shield to expand its range or diverting it to the weapons for greater firepower and rate of fire.

Gray's gravity shield now overlapped with Qin Mo's, bringing them into the closest proximity two shield bearers could achieve. Gray assisted by mowing down infantry with his multi-barreled laser guns, while Qin Mo focused his extraordinary powers on obliterating the mutants.

"For the Emperor! For the Emperor!" Gray's eyes remained locked forward, his HUD marking every enemy in sight. His twin laser guns swept through one target after another until no more remained, each one vanishing from his screen before he aimed at the next.

Unsurprisingly, the two of them became the focal point of the rebel assault.

But the gravity shields effortlessly intercepted the ballistic weapons. Occasionally, a stray laser would leave a scorch mark on their armor, only for Gray to retaliate, sending suppressive fire toward its source. Even when the rebels dragged out heavy lumber guns or anti-armor cannons, it was futile. If they dared to fire, they earned Gray's undivided attention.

"I am the Emperor's wrath! Face my fury, heretics!" Gray bellowed in exhilaration, feeling invincible as the rebels flailed helplessly against the gravity shield, as insignificant as ants before him.

Qin Mo, after electrocuting another mutant to death, glanced at Gray. Though he couldn't see the expression inside Gray's helmet, he could easily imagine it. The other soldiers in powered armor scattered across the battlefield, slaughtering rebels, were likely feeling the same.

These once-praying soldiers, who had pleaded for the Emperor's protection from stray bullets, now strode invincible across the field of battle in their powered armor. It was hard not to fall into the illusion of being unbeatable.

They needed to adapt.

As the creator of the powered armor, Qin Mo felt no sense of exhilaration. He remained unsatisfied—it wasn't efficient enough, not impactful enough. Qin Mo's mind was divided, most of his thoughts on future improvements, with only a fraction focused on the present combat.

When the last mutant was charred to ash by his lightning, the rebel soldiers' morale finally collapsed. They fled, abandoning the battlefield in utter panic.

"The Emperor is with us! Victory is ours!" Gray lifted his arms in triumph, his multi-barreled laser guns sparking from overuse.

"Yes, we've won," Qin Mo said coolly, turning to survey the allied soldiers who had fought alongside them.

Two commanders approached, their eyes widening as they took in the sight of Qin Mo's twin-headed eagle scepter and the power armor. They knew instantly—this man was either nobility or an elite among elites, far superior to their rank.

"Salutations, sir," the two officers offered the Imperial Eagle salute, as did the rest of the soldiers.

"The Emperor has sent me to aid you," Qin Mo accepted their reverence with calm authority, using their respect to bolster their spirits with a few well-chosen words.

Sometimes, a lie was more important than the truth.

For these soldiers, struggling in the depths of this perilous hive, the belief that the Emperor was watching over them did more to lift their morale than any reality could. And who could dispute it? After all, who could explain why, at the most desperate moment, six figures descended from the heavens, slicing through the rebel ranks and shattering their morale?

"The Emperor watches over us…"

"Praise the Emperor, Master of Mankind!"

The soldiers gazed upward as if the ceiling above, crisscrossed with pipes, was the starry sky itself.

Watching their joy, Gray scratched his helmet, then turned to Qin Mo.

Sensing the gaze, Qin Mo shrugged. "Desperate times... you understand."

Gray silently nodded.

"Ahem!" Qin Mo cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention. From his jetpack, he produced a communications device integrated with a psionic suppressor. "Use this to communicate. If you encounter a psionic enemy, try to throw this near them."

"Thank you for your generosity," one of the officers said, reaching out to take the device. "What should we do next?"

"Hold the line," Qin Mo replied simply.

"With all due respect, sir, if the rebels attack again and you're off saving someone else, we're doomed."

"Hold the line," Qin Mo repeated, firmly.

"Yes, sir," the officer conceded, nodding.

"I won't leave you standing around like fools, defending a broken position," Qin Mo said, striding forward to a spot of relatively intact ground. There, he employed his most formidable skill.

To the amazement of all, a fortress rose swiftly from the ground.

Qin Mo's powers, honed to perfection, now allowed him to manipulate the physical realm on a much larger scale. The speed at which the fortress was constructed was exponentially faster than before.

"Hold this position. If things get desperate, use the communicator to call me. I will return within a day. If I can't make it in time, continue to hold. Under no circumstances can this position fall," Qin Mo ordered.

"You'll only hear of this position falling if every soldier of the 87th and 31st regiments has returned to the Golden Throne," the officer declared resolutely, gripping his chainsword tightly at his side.